The Importance of Family
by sparkycola1
Summary: Greg angst. A figure from Greg's past comes back with one thing on his mind. Revenge
1. Chapter 1

**_The Importance of Family_**

__

  I dunno what your gonna make of this but please note that it's my first CSI fic, so go easy on me ;-)

 Nick wandered into the lab, a couple of DNA samples in his hand. He looked up, opening his mouth to say something but stopped. Standing in front of him was Greg, reading a newspaper. Normally this wouldn't have bothered him, had it not been for the look of absolute terror on Greg's face. Add that to the fact that he was white as a sheet and shaking and Nick was worried. 

   "Greg- Are you ok man?"

Greg jumped, and closed the newspaper, which Nick identified as the 'Las Vegas Times'. The look of fear in Greg's eyes for that split second chilled Nick to the core before Greg slapped a fake smile on his face.

   "Uh- yeah, I'm-I'm fine..."

As Nick entered further into the room, Greg edged nearer the door. Greg looked at his watch.

"Whoa- look at the time- end of shift, later!"

And with that he made a swift exit. Nick stared after him. What was that about? What was Greg so terrified of? He had no idea of what would cause that kind of fear in his normally so easy-going friend, but his own shift didn't end for another hour yet and this case needed his full attention. By the end of the hour, Nick was tired, and had completely forgotten about the whole incident, still caught up in the complexities of his current case.

*********************************************************************

*~*~*~* AT THE END OF GREG'S SHIFT*~*~*~*

Greg practically ran out of the building, still shaking; but immediately came to a dead stop. In front of him was the cause of his fear. In front of him was somebody he'd hoped he would never see again. He stood frozen to the spot. He could barely breathe as panic found its' way inside him.

"Nice to see you too son."

The man said, before he knocked Greg out with a chunk of wood. He picked up the newspaper Greg dropped.

*********************************************************************

 Greg was beaten into consciousness. He ached all over. Looking at his surroundings- he identified it as an old warehouse. In front of him were around 15, 16 men, smiling maliciously. One stepped forward. It was his dad.

   "You can make a lot of friends in 16 years Greg. Spend some...'quality time' together and I know you'll get along just fine...especially with my friend Billy here..."

One of the men stepped forward and looked Greg up and down. Greg shuddered and closed his eyes. He couldn't believe this was happening. He knew by the fact that he wasn't wearing a blindfold they were going to kill him. His father continued.

"I'm going to ruin your life Greg, just like you ruined mine; I'm going to shred it into tiny pieces, and then I'm going to kill you."

He laughed and took a step back, motioning to the men behind him.

"Do what you will. And- don't hold back."

He said, without leaving eye contact with Greg, before turning and walking out of the room. Greg was sitting on a chair, hands tied behind his back; but as soon as his dad left, the men untied him from the chair and dragged him nearer the centre of the warehouse. He knew fighting back against 15 burly men, with no where to run to was pointless, and so did nothing as they tied him to two horizontal bars, one attached to the floor, the other on a pulley system which was hoisted until Greg's wrists were above him. He winced slightly. He wasn't touching the floor, and the ropes around his wrists and ankles were painfully tight- in fact, he decided, this was possibly the most uncomfortable position he'd ever been in. Then he thought back to when his father had broken his arm and stuffed him in the small room under the stairs when he was eight and couldn't quite decide. 

Then it began.

He got whipped, he got beaten, he got cut and he got burned. He had never been in as much pain in his life. He reached knew levels of agony that he didn't even know you could reach.

   After what seemed like an eternity of endless pain, it stopped. The men left silently-all except one. Billy. Billy untied Greg's ankles first, and then his wrists, letting him fall painfully to the floor. He kneeled down beside him and whispered in Greg's ear.

"Do you want to know...what I went to prison for...?"

And for the next hour, Greg wished the eternal pain had continued without stopping. As the fading afternoon sun shone into the cold warehouse, Billy left, and his father entered with a hammer. 

"Please...stop..."

Greg choked out in between sobs.

"Look at you Gregory- you're pathetic. A pathetic little lab technician who nobody cares about. Nobody is coming to save you Greg- Why would they? To them you're just the loser behind the scenes, a tool which they use to get the credit. You disgust me."

He lifted the hammer and brought it down on Greg's left leg with a sickening crunch, and Greg finally fell unconscious.

*********************************************************************

Nick woke. He looked at the clock by his bed. 4.00 pm. He rubbed a hand over his face. Something was nagging at the back of his mind. He tried to recall the dream he was having, but it was hazy. Getting up, he started to make himself a cup of coffee, knowing that he wouldn't get any sleep until he'd figured out what was bothering him. He picked up the mug but his hand slipped on the handle and it jolted the short distance back onto the counter. He sighed as the coffee spilled over the edge, leaving pools of coffee next to the mug. And then it hit him. In the next few minutes he got changed in lightening speed and grabbing his coat and cell phone, he jumped into his car headed for work, despite the fact that one, it was day, and two, it was independence day; he wouldn't be working today even if he did work the day shift. Should he call the others? Only if his fears were confirmed when he got there. It would be really embarrassing to wake up all of his colleagues and friends just because he'd jumped to conclusions. Suddenly another thought struck him, and he pulled in to the 24 hour shopping at the sign. Hopping out, he actually ran to the shop, grabbing the L.V. Times and rushed out after having paid for it. Slinging it on the passenger seat, he started off again. His instincts were telling him that something was wrong, and he trusted his instincts. 

When he arrived, he parked next to Greg's car. He knew it- Greg's car had stayed in the parking lot all day- in which case, how did Greg get home? A cab maybe? Lost his car keys? Then he saw the small pool of blood by the entrance, like his coffee. A small scrap of newspaper was nearby. He sat back down in his car and opened the newly bought newspaper. Nothing...nothing...page 20. Something. As he read the article, Nick's eyes widened. He grabbed his cell phone and dialled. After two long rings, Grissom answered.

"Grissom."

"Hey- It's, It's Nick, I think- I need you to come down to CSI now- It's important, I...I think Greg's in danger!"

There was a pause.

"Nick, Calm down, I'll be there as soon as I can, I'll call Cathy."

Nick took a deep breath.

"Ok, see you in a little while."

*               *                *                 *                 *                 *                 *                *                

The five CSI's each read the article:

'**_MURDERER RELEASED AFTER 16 YEARS_**

_ Jonathan Sanders was let out on the 3rd of July on good behaviour, after 16 years in prison for drunkenly murdering his wife and daughter. His son Gregory, 12 years old at the time escaped and managed to phone the police, sentencing Sanders to life imprisonment. At the time there were reports that Sanders repeatedly beat up his wife and children, though today, Sanders assures that these were just over-exaggerated rumours. Sanders stated that everybody deserved a second chance, and he was not going to waste his. Authorities assure the public that the now tea-total Sanders is a changed man, who very much regrets his past.'_

There was a shocked silence. There was an indefinable presence of grief, angst, and most of all shock in the air. Eventually, Sara broke the silence.

"Changed man. Sure."

Grissom spoke up whilst unlocking the CSI building. 

"Greg sent his father to life imprisonment. Sixteen years is a long time for bitterness and hatred to build up. And a long time to plan revenge. Greg may already be...dead, but after sixteen years, I should think John Sanders has much more in store for him than just that. Which means there's still a chance."

The door was unlocked, and they entered, turning on the lights. Gil carried on, naturally taking the lead. 

"Catherine, Warrick, find out as much as you can about Jonathan Sanders, I want to know the ten most likely places that Greg is being held right now; Nick, call Brass, tell him what's happening; Sara, make sure he hasn't left the country, I'll check out the crime scene, make sure there's nothing important we've missed. Ten hours is a long time. Greg could be anywhere right now, let's just hope we can find him, and find him alive." 

"How do we know he's not just in some backstreet somewhere?"

Warrick asked, voicing the team's  thoughts. Gil sighed.

"We don't. But it's ten past five. Greg's father won't expect anyone to even find Greg missing until at least tomorrow, since today is independence day- we have that advantage. We can only hope. I've experienced people like this before- we all have, and if I'm right this guy wants serious revenge. Like I said- he's had a long time to plan it; to just kill Greg would be an anticlimax."

*~*~*

45 MINUTES LATER

Grissom remained the only calm one in the room, coffee in hand. The others seemed unable to hide their anguish, unlike him. Sara looked frustrated, the others worried. He started off.

"All I could tell from the crime scene was that the blood was Greg's, and there wasn't a struggle. Otherwise nothing new."

Nick frowned.

"He was probably too scared. Yesterday before he left, I saw him reading the article on his dad- I've never seen Greg so scared."

There was a silence. Sara broke it quickly, anxious to start looking for Greg.

"The more local airports have taken the last eleven hours worth of security cameras and scanned them against images of Greg and John Sanders, and there were no matches, otherwise it's pretty hard to tell."

Catherine took this as her cue.

"We found out that Jonathan's probation forbids him from leaving Las Vegas for the next year. We also found out that whilst he was in prison, he hired 31 warehouses for the whole of today. He wanted to slow us down...and to be honest..."

"He's slowing us down."

Warrick finished. Grissom looked at them.

"Have you pinpointed the most likely warehouses?"

His voice shook slightly, betraying the underlying worry he was feeling. Warrick sighed.

"We've decided, that the warehouses should be investigated in this order, accounting for the six teams Brass could find at the last minute."

He pointed to a map marked out with the warehouses, labelled 1-31. Brass felt eyes on him. He took a photocopy of the map.

"I'll go now and send each of my teams to their destinations. Let's go rescue Greg."

Each team member chose a destination and drove off to meet a different team.

*~*~*

MEANWHILE

A bucket of ice splashed over him. He started to shiver but still did not wake up. One of John's ex-con friends slapped Greg across the face.

"Wake up!"

Greg's father stopped him. He paused for a couple of minutes, eyes cold and calculating. He walked slowly over to Greg and knelt down beside him.

"Greg- Greg wake up it's ok, you're safe now, please wake up- It's going to be ok!"

With the last word he grabbed Greg's broken leg and squeezed as hard as he could. Greg whimpered, slowly regaining consciousness.

"Nicky...?"

He whispered, coughing out blood. His father laughed.

"Close. You see Gregory, in this world there's no room for losers. So you know what? I'm going to finally put an end to your misery, I'm going to kill you. I'm doing you a favour can't you see that? Nobody cares about you in this world- no one gives a damn about some lab-rat with no family and no friends. When I kill you, you'll get to be with your mommy and your liddle baby sister- tell them I said hi by the way- and when I'm done with you, I'm gonna start with Nicky, and kill all of the people who've used you, who pretended they cared about you; wouldn't you like that...?"

Greg was too weak to answer. Too weak to do anything. His father continued.

"In fact, I've got a great idea! I could use you as target practice- You don't get much practice in jail for some reason...in fact it's been over 17 years since I last held a gun. Do you know how much I've been longing for this moment? Do you?"

{OUTSIDE}

Nick phoned the others.

"Griss? Warehouse number 16. We need back-up, there's about ten of them just on the outside!"

{INSIDE}

Four men lifted Greg and tied him back onto the rails. His father walked until he was a fair distance away, grinning. He shot. And completely missed. He swore under his breath.

{OUTSIDE}

Nick heard the gunshot and his vision started to blur, heart began to race. Before he even knew what he was doing he was running down the embankment head on to the ten ex-cons who scrabbled to their feet and fumbled for their weapons. As three, more awake men began attacking Nick, the team of six he'd been working with came to the rescue, shooting off two of the men and surrounding them all. They swiftly began hand-cuffing the men as Nick tried to force his way inside, four men and Grissom behind him as a second team arrived.

{INSIDE}

Greg's father turned around at the gun shots outside, and the men trying to force their way in.

"NO!"

He turned around and started shooting frantically at Greg.

"NO! NO! NO!!!"

But the final shot was Nick's, a better shot than John Sanders, straight through the "Changed Man's" heart. As Brass' men took out the remaining ex-cons in the room, Nick and Grissom could do nothing but stare, frozen in horror at the state of Greg. They ran over to him. 

"A little help here?! Somebody for God's sake call an ambulance!!"

And they slowly untied Greg. They lay him on the floor just as Cathy ran in. She stopped. 

"Oh...my...god..."

She whispered, tears flowing, like the tears flowing down Nick's face. He was talking to the unconscious form of Greg, trembling with emotion as they covered him in a blanket. 

"It's gonna be ok buddy, You'll be alright, come on Greggo don't die on me man!"

He started to sob as his best friends life hung in the balance. 

The ambulance took 3 minutes to get there. The longest 3 minutes of each CSI's life, now all of them present. The ambulance men didn't want any of them to get in the way, so all five of them, and Brass travelled behind as it took seven painfully long minutes to get to the hospital...and then...they waited...

TBC- if ya interested..? Please r and r...


	2. Chapter 2

A/n ~ Thanks for the reviews!!! {{{{Hugs}}}} But I can't really take the credit. I didn't write it- it wrote itself...my hand just started scribbling and I just couldn't make it stop! Looking around there seems to be a distinct lack of Greg angst fic which is just unacceptable. What's with that?! Why does no one like Greggo? :-( Well I'm here now to fix it, so watch out people... :-) 

Part 2

They were in the waiting room; waiting. They all looked as though they had been crying. Because they all had. Nick and Grissom couldn't get the image of Greg tied up out of their minds. Pale, burnt, bruised, bleeding, scarred but still conscious, barely. They would never forget that image. Catherine was thinking about Lindsey. Lindsey was with her father now, and Eddie didn't seem so bad somehow after this. How could anybody do that to their child? Sara and Warrick were thinking about just how much Greg had been through, even though he was the youngest of the team. 

"If only I'd-"

Nick started, but Grissom stopped him.

"Don't you dare."

It was clear from his voice that Grissom was more than angry.

"Excuse me?"

"Don't you dare try and blame this on *anybody* but Jonathan Sanders do you hear me?!"

There was a pause until Warrick said

"Man I wish it had been me to pull that trigger Nick, that bastard is going to hell."

He was obviously just as frustrated as the rest of them at not having heard anything about Greg's condition. There was another long silence. After a little while, Catherine started crying again. Grissom handed her a box of tissues.

"Thanks. I-It's just-"

She sighed.

"It would have been bad enough if John Sanders had been a stranger but- when he was Greg's father and- I just keep thinking of Lindsey-"

"Catherine-"

But Grissom was interrupted by the arrival of the doctor, who immediately had their full attention.  

"As I'm sure you're aware, Greg is in a critical condition. Right now he's in a coma which we can only hope he will wake up from."

The doctor hesitated.

" His injuries are so extensive that if he does wake up he will need a great deal of physiotherapy as well as counselling...there is another matter which I can only discuss with his next of kin, so could Gil Grissom and Nick stokes please come this way."

On the way to the doctor's office Grissom couldn't help thinking that in only 28 years, Greg had got to the point where he had to put down his boss as his next of kin, though he certainly wasn't surprised that Greg hadn't put down his father. He looked at his watch. It was 5 past midnight, and so thanksgiving. Grissom suddenly wondered where Greg spent holidays like thanksgiving. At home? Alone? Or did Greg have foster parents? He had to have stayed somewhere after his father massacred his family...another relative maybe? It was amazing how before this incident, he had been completely oblivious of Greg's past. The office was small, cluttered and claustrophobic, but somehow the doctor seemed to fit in there. He was at perfect ease with the clutter around him, but less so with what he had to tell them. 

"I'm afraid...I have some...distressing news. It seems that on top of all of the injuries Mr. Sanders received, he was also, sexually abused..."

"What?!"

"Oh my God..."

The doctor paused.

"Fortunately there is absolutely no trace of any sexually transmitted diseases...which is certainly a benefactor in Greg's recovery. Physically anyway...mentally..."

"This is not happening..."

Nick whispered. They were both in a state of shock, anger and despair. Grissom calmed himself enough to ask one more question. 

"Doctor, tell us honestly, do you believe Greg will wake up?"

The doctor sighed. He hated moments like this.

"It's hard to tell- Apart from the injuries he's received in the last 24 hours, he's young, fit and healthy, which is all good. I would hope that Greg wakes up within the next two weeks, but like I said, it's hard to tell."

Grissom nodded and Nick joined him as they silently headed to the waiting room. They stopped just before they reached it.

"Wait- are we going to tell the others?"

"I know it's not something you want everyone to know about Nick, but they'll need to understand the full situation. Otherwise when Greg says something about it or acts differently, they won't be able to support him."

Nick hesitated, but eventually nodded. 

When the others found out, there was a hushed silence. No one knew what to say. Something inside them felt dead. Catherine looked to Nick, making sure he was ok, being the only one who knew his secret, other than Greg. Nick was trying not to think of that one night, that one babysitter, and the many nightmares that followed. He didn't want is best friend to go through that. And definitely not alone. 

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

When Greg woke up, almost a week after the incident, he didn't call the doctor. He just sat up painfully and stared into space. He remembered. Every single detail. Why couldn't he have had amnesia he wondered. A nurse entered; startled when she saw he was awake. She called out into the corridor, to Dr. Simons; who replied he'd be there in a minute, just had some calls to make. The nurse spoke to Greg, but he just ignored her, still staring into space.  

"Mr. Sanders? Mr. Sanders how are you feeling? Do you remember what happened? Can you hear me? You should be lying down-"

She put her hands on his shoulders to gently push him down, but he flinched violently. He looked up at her in fear, but then looked down, embarrassed. Her professional tone was replaced by a much softer one.

"You don't have to be embarrassed. You're lucky to have survived you know that? And your friends are worried sick about you."

At this point Dr. Simons entered. 

"Your friends are on there way over Mr. Sanders. How much do you remember?"

Greg didn't respond. He drew his knees up to his chest and made as tight a ball as possible. The doctor sighed.

"All of it I presume."

A nurse entered.

"Dr. Simons? Some visitors are here, they said you wanted to see them?"

Dr. Simons nodded and left. He met the five CSI's who looked both relieved and worried at the same time. 

"How is he?"

Grissom asked, before he could say anything. 

"I think he remembers everything, he hasn't said a word since he woke up."

They asked if they could see him and he lead them to Greg's room.

"Greg!"

They ran into his room and surrounded him, but he was still in a tight ball and just ignored them.

"Greg?"

"Greg- say something!"

But Greg continued to ignore them, staring at nothing. The expression on his face was haunted. As though he wanted to just block out the world. Nick knew what he was feeling. He did exactly the same when he was younger, waiting for his parents to come home, sitting in the dark staring into space. Cathy mentally compared Greg now to her memories of him in the lab, joking around, making them laugh, yet still being completely professional and competent. She didn't know whether he would ever be the same again. She couldn't help it- she started crying. Standing next to her, Nick put an arm round her shoulder. Greg came out of his reverie and looked at Catherine. Recognition seemed to flash across his face. She was crying.

"Are you ok?"

He said a little croakily, his voice not having been used for a week. She smiled a little and hugged him gently. He flinched involuntarily. She hesitated, wondering if she'd put pressure on an injury, until she remembered.

"Sorry"

He said quietly. His apology went straight to Sara's heart. She hugged him next, and tried to make light of his apology.

"You're damn right you're sorry, do you have any idea how worried we were about you?"

Greg moved into a cross-legged position and smiled slightly, though Grissom noticed it didn't reach his eyes. 

"How long was I out?"

He asked. Nick replied.

"Almost a week."

He hugged Greg, who forced himself not to flinch. Warrick held up some gifts. 

"Hey we brought you some presents...These are from the other lab-techs."

He handed him a huge box of chocolates, and some blue Hawaiian coffee, as well as Greg's cd player from the lab and some of his cd's. Grissom stood up and reached for the huge 'get well soon' card behind him. 

"Not to mention this"

He said handing Greg the card. It had been signed with little messages by everybody. Cathy smiled, and handed him a bag.

"We thought you might get bored in hospital so Nick, Warrick, Sara and I banded together and got you a gameboy with 17 games. And- Lindsey wanted me to give you this."

She took out a picture, obviously drawn by Lindsey. In it, Greg was in a hospital bed surrounded by the five CSI's and Lindsey, as well as heaps of presents. Greg laughed when he saw Lindsey's perception of Warrick's hair, which was much longer and spikier than in real life.

"Tell her I love it- And if she wants to visit she can"

Nick handed him a bag of grapes.

"Hey it's tradition right?"

Grissom took out his present.

"Well my gift isn't as expensive as everyone else's, but at least I bothered to *wrap* mine."

The others looked sheepish and he smiled. Greg ripped off the blue and silver wrapping paper to reveal a photograph of everybody in CSI including himself, in a silver frame.

"Man I had completely forgotten about this."

He said quietly. The others moved in for a closer look.

"Me too."

Said Sara.

"I hadn't."  
  


Said Nick with a grin.

"I always wondered where it went though."

Grissom smiled.

"Thanks. All of you guys."

He said sincerely. He lifted the photograph up a little, but then sighed in frustration. Nick picked it up.

"Don't worry man, I'll do it. Doc said you might need some physiotherapy."

Nick picked it up and put it on the bedside table. Greg looked at him suspiciously, aware of a kind of tension in the room. Nick coughed.

"...And counselling..."

"What? No way- I am not going to see a shrink, I'm fine."

Nick sighed.

"Can you guys leave us a minute?"

The others left silently.

"Greg, I know what you're going through- Which means I know you are not fine."

"Nick- when it happened to you, you were a kid, and you were alone- but you turned out ok! I'm not a kid, and I'm not alone, I'll be ok as well."

"Yeah and you know what? I went to the school shrink. After a while, the nightmares stopped- it doesn't mean you're a psycho or a freak, nobody will think that."

"Yeah right."

Nick looked at him suspiciously.

"What are you not telling me? Why are you so against this?"

Greg sighed tiredly.

"You think they didn't make me see a shrink after I watched my dad murder my mom and sister? ...At first- she helped. She helped make the nightmares go away...but then...I trusted my best friend, and he let me down. He told everybody I was a freak, and suddenly no one wanted to be my friend anymore."

Nick swallowed the lump in his throat. 

"I'm sorry man, but you gotta understand- They were kids. Nobody will do that to you back at CSI. They'll be supportive- trust me."

Greg nodded.

"I do trust you- you're a much better best friend than he ever was anyway."

Nick smiled.

"Fine! Fine...I'll do it."

Greg relented.

"Hey you should get some sleep- you look tired."

Nick said.

"You too."

Greg said quietly, knowing it was his fault. Nick nodded and left. The lump in his throat was rising as he used the lift to the ground floor. He found the others with a cup of coffee next to a coffee vending machine. At the expression on his face, they assumed Greg had refused counselling, all except Grissom of course, who didn't assume anything.

"He says he'll do it."

Nick said, still looking upset. 

"Are you ok?"

Grissom asked.

"Fine"

He replied forcefully. 

"Well, do you want some coffee?"

Sara asked.

"No."

He said, and walked out of the hospital. Grissom went after him, stopping at the doorway to the hospital, as Nick stopped a little way off, in the circle of a street light, about halfway to his car. He looked up at the sky, his back turned to Grissom.

"Why Greg?! Huh?! Why did you do this to him? He's a good person dammit! Don't you think he's been through enough?!" 

Grissom watched him.

"He doesn't deserve this."

Nick ended quietly, tears falling again. He heard Grissom walking up behind him and turned around. He sighed, frustrated.

"Greg never did anything wrong man."

Grissom knew there was more to this so he said simply,

"No, he didn't."

There was a pause.

"Why was Greg so against counselling?"

Nick hesitated, but told him. Grissom was silent, and Nick couldn't read his expression. They stood there for a while, until Grissom said,

"I'm going to go home and get some sleep. I suggest you do the same, you look tired."

Grissom watched as Nick drove off. He stood there for over five minutes, thinking, before he finally drove home. 

TBC- 

A/n – Keep the reviews coming! I'm quite surprised I got any to be honest but I love 'em cos they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :-) (You know the feeling)- And because of that I promise I'll update *much* quicker this time. I'm not sure how long the next one will be, but I suspect it will be shorter than the first two. Hope you liked this chapter...


	3. Chapter 3

A/n- LONG LIVE GREG ANGST!!! Thanks again for the reviews- You can all be proud of yourselves for making one wannabe writer very happy :-) And a special note of encouragement to go and write Greg angst :-D go on....you *know* you want to....please..?

PART 3

*~*~* A FEW DAYS LATER *~*~*

Physiotherapy was frustrating for Greg. Because his left leg was seriously broken, his left arm was fractured and burns on his arms and legs had damaged nerves, his physiotherapist, Caroline had to start off slow, and walking was out of the question until his leg had healed. Caroline had longish auburn hair and light brown eyes that matched the bronzy colour almost exactly. She also had rectangular glasses she used for reading which suited her. She had a quick wit, and infinite patience, encouraging him all the way. They were concentrating for now mainly on picking things up. He was especially glad he had his own room- on a ward he would have been really embarrassed. However slow, physio was pretty much as he had expected. Next up- Counselling. He shuddered. 

*~*~*

His psychiatrist was called Laura. Right now she was sitting next to him on his bed, having asked him to 'budge over'. He was practically shaking with nervousness. It had been bad enough going through it once, but twice? He didn't want to tell her anything. She was- after all, a total stranger. Laura was pretty, and looked kind, though something in her eyes told him she was tougher than she looked. She had brown hair and blue eyes, eyes that were neither judging, pitying, nor detached, but truly caring. As though he were her only patient, and she had all the time in the world just for him. 

She could see how scared he was. Her sixth sense was telling her that this one had been through all the motions of pain in far too much detail, and would rather risk a complete and utter breakdown than talk about it. But though Greg didn't know it, he was looking at the ultimate expert, the professional's professional. And whatever the challenge, she would help this 28 year old sleep at night peacefully. Yes, she had watched him while he was sleeping- and she knew he was wrapped inside a personal horror movie. It wouldn't have mattered if he hadn't been tossing and turning- to her, he was radiating pain, even if no one else could feel it. Right now it didn't take a pro to see he was uncomfortable, apprehensive. She smiled slightly, what she hoped was reassuring, but not patronising.

"I'm Laura."

Greg didn't respond. Yep- this one was gonna be tough. 

"It's my grandma's 88th birthday in a week...what do you think I should get her?"

Laura asked, genuinely curious, as though she were just casually striking up conversation with a friend. Greg looked at her as though she was absolutely barking mad.

"I've never even met her!"

He said incredulously, after a while.

"No, you're right, of course not, it's just- well I'm really close to my grandma so I want to get her something she'll love. What about you- you close to your grandparents?"

"I was. They looked after me when I was twelve and paid for me to go to college, but they're both dead now. As for my father's side, I don't even know whether they're alive or dead, I just never heard anything about them."

"So on your mother's side- what were they like?"

"They were nice...caring, funny, good company. My grandma was like the opposite of the stereotype, she hated knitting- she was far too active for that. And she was really into science- she's the one who got me into it, bought me a chemistry set on my 7th birthday and I was hooked."

"Don't you work in science?"

"Yeah, I'm a lab technician for crime scene investigators, analysing DNA and stuff."

So far so good they both thought. Laura was immensely relieved that he was talking at all, and Greg was relieved she hadn't yet asked him about anything all that personal, or anything to do with his feelings. 

"My grandma used to love whodunits, on the TV or novels, but her eyesight's too poor now. She's my grandma on my mom's side and it's funny-my mom is so much like her, she adores whodunits, all that sort of thing- and they like the same music too. Was your mom like your grandparents?"

"...Yeah. Yeah she was. I guess she was more like my granddad, quiet, artistic- The complete opposite of my dad."

Greg tensed and wished he hadn't mentioned his father, but Laura didn't push it.

"Why did she marry him then?"

"My mom said he was different before she married him, then after...she was too scared to leave him."

Laura was happy with the progress Greg didn't even realise he'd made, and so let him change the subject.

"How about audio books?"

"That's perfect! Her hearing is still fine- thanks!"

She got out a pen.

"You look tired; maybe you should get some sleep."

She started to write 'audio books' on her hand.

"No I'm fine!"

He said, a little too quickly. She looked up at him.

"Are you having nightmares?"

Greg didn't respond.

"Hey it's perfectly normal. Listen, if you ever need to talk, about anything- no matter what the time is, call me and I'll come over. Any time-believe me- I have no life!"

She smiled and handed him her mobile number on a scrap of paper. Then, she hopped off the bed and made her way to the door. 

"Oh and Greg?"

She said, turning back

"...Yeah?"

"We'll get past the nightmares."

And she walked out.

*~*~*             A FEW HOURS AND SEVERAL VISITS LATER               *~*~*

Grissom entered just as Archie left. So far Greg hadn't had time to play on his gameboy. Grissom was relieved that Greg didn't seem to have any serious psychological problems, but was still concerned about the underlying feelings that he knew Greg was trying to hide.

"How did physio go?"

"It went ok, Caroline, my physiotherapist, said I should be able to make a full recovery, eventually anyway. I met my counsellor too, Laura. She's nice."

Grissom nodded. He looked at Greg, almost scanning him. Greg looked anywhere but his eyes. It always made him uncomfortable when Grissom did that. He sat down next to Greg. He looked worried. To convince him he was fine, Greg smiled at him, but Grissom didn't smile back. 

"We know what happened."

Greg looked away and shuddered at the memory. 

"I know."

He laughed humourlessly.

"I could tell the moment you all stepped through the door."

Grissom considered this.

"No one likes pity, but don't mistake sympathy for pity Greg."

"I'm not- they- It's both."

"We're your friends."

Grissom stated simply. Greg wasn't smiling anymore. He was looking down, holding back tears. Grissom frowned. 

"Greg- You're not alone, We'll get through this."

"No- I *got* through it. It's over. Look at me, I'm fine! Ok a few injuries, but it's a hospital- look around; there are people doing worse off than me. I just want to forget it! Just...be normal ya know?"

Greg ended quietly. 

"But what defines normal?"

"Not this- I just want...the package deal. Wife, 2 kids, company car, one cat, one dog, visit the parents at thanksgiving, visit my sister and her family at Christmas, hey maybe have a barbeque on Saturday, invite the neighbours just...normal. But I'll never get that..."

A single tear escaped but he angrily wiped it away.

"Greg- It's ok to cry."

He pulled his knees up to his chest as more tears silently formed. Finally, he quietly let out the pain he had kept inside, locked up. Grissom responded to Greg's perception of a normal life, so he wouldn't feel embarrassed.

"Nobody is a robot. Everybody has something, some problem, or had some problem that is still with them, whether people know about it or not. That fantasy perfect life doesn't exist, and never did. Besides, maybe you won't see your parents or your sister but you can still get married, have two kids, and if it makes you feel any better, buy a dog and a cat too."

Greg, still crying, wiped his eyes on his sleeve.

"Every time I close my eyes I see...and I can't go to sleep..."

Greg continued to let out his pent up emotions, whilst Grissom closed his eyes momentarily. He couldn't stand to see somebody so innocent, so kind and good-natured in so much pain. Nick was right. It was unfair.

"Greg, it's natural to have nightmares."

"But they're so real- and I don't want to go to sleep and see it all over again- it happens every night, it won't go away! My dad was right...I am pathetic."

This made Grissom immediately furious. He stood up and looked Greg in the eyes.

"Now you listen to me Greg- You are anything but pathetic. You are incredibly brave, and have been all your life. That son of a bitch had no right to be anywhere near you."

Something seemed to suddenly dawn on Greg. 

"I'm not...*like* him am I? What if I turn into-"

"Greg- You are *nothing* like your father. You were tortured, nearly killed by 16 ex-cons, and when you wake up the first thing you say is "Are you ok?" In fact... you're one of the best people I know."

Greg smiled slightly. Somehow, coming from Grissom it was true, rather than just trying to make him feel better.

"Thanks."

Grissom asked a question he had been curious about.

"Who took care of you after your father went to prison?"

After all, who ever it was hadn't come to see him, and Greg hadn't put them down as next of kin.

"My grandparents. On my mother's side. They were really nice to me- if it wasn't for them I probably wouldn't have been able to go to college, they paid for it all. My granddad died after I graduated- And I'm glad it was after, and not before- he was really proud of me. A couple of years later my grandma died too. That's when I moved to Las Vegas." 

Grissom nodded. Greg went on. 

"I guess now my dad's dead I don't have any more family."

"Your father was biologically related to you- but he wasn't family. You don't need him anyway."

He nodded to the photo of the CSI department.

"You've already got a family."

And he left. Greg had the first good night's sleep that night than he'd had for a long time. Too long. But from now on, things would be different. Laura would help him put a stop to the nightmares altogether, Caroline would help his mobility, and then he'd be back to the lab. And back to his family. 

The end.

A/n- Hope you liked the ending :S And as for any mistakes, well- It wasn't beta'd, so I'll use that as an excuse :-) {{{{Reviewers}}}} many of whom have indeed written some excellent Greg fic. Well done! :-D You probably think I'm a bit crazy now, but he's so lovely!! Btw, I'll write another chapter about when he finally goes back to the lab if'n ya want, but it's quite long neway- if u think its fine ended there, then that's peachy- all the less work for me!


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